Men's Basketball News Release

LAST WEEK: Willamette wins pair at home, lose nail-biter at
PLU
Jan. 21 at Willamette 70, Pacific 53
Post Marques Johnson (Sr., Grant HS) scored a game-high 20 points
and pulled down seven rebounds to lead Willamette past visiting
Pacific. The win kept the Bearcats unbeaten at home in six games,
while Pacific saw its winning streak snapped at four games. The two
teams battled through a defensive-oriented first half and the
Bearcats took a 29-22 lead into intermission. But Pacific scored
the first seven points of the second half to knot the score at 29.
PU was still within three points (40-37) with just over 12 minutes
left before the hosts took charge. Willamette then reeled off seven
straight points. The Bearcats also got 16 points and four assists
from point guard Ryan Hepp (Sr., Century HS) and 14 points and five
assists from wing Miles Sandgathe (Jr., Pleasant Hill HS).
Willamette shot 54.0 percent from the field for the game, compared
to just 42.6 percent for Pacific. Pacific out-rebounded the
Bearcats handily in the first period (21-14), but the Bearcats
turned the tables in the second half, out-boarding the visitors
19-11.

Jan. 24 at Willamette 76, George Fox 60
Harold Sublett Jr. (So., Hayden HS, Ariz.) and Miles Sandgathe
(Pleasant Hill HS) sparked a 22-9 run in the middle 10 minutes of
the second half to lead Willamette to the victory over George Fox.
The win kept Willamette undefeated (7-0) at Cone Field House.
George Fox was in the game most of the way until the Bearcats
boosted their lead to 15 points with four minutes remaining.
Willamette had leads of 19-9 and 31-19 in the first half, but the
pesky Bruins scored the final 11 points of the half to close to
within 31-30 at intermission. The two teams split the first 20
points of the second half before WU began to pull away from a 41-40
edge. Sublett Jr. scored eight points and Sandgathe tallied six in
the critical run that made the score 63-49 with 5:29 remaining.
Sublett Jr., who had just one point at the half, finished the
contest with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Sandgathe
finished with 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the field.
Willamette’s Marques Johnson (Sr., Grant HS) scored 10 of his
team’s first 13 points and finished the night with 20 points and
eight rebounds.

Jan. 25 at Pacific Lutheran 57, Willamette 54
Pacific Lutheran out-scored Willamette 38-21 in the second half and
three Bearcats fouled out as the Lutes upset the visitors. WU
defeated PLU 62-37 back on Jan. 4 in Salem. After taking a 33-19
halftime lead, Willamette shot just 25.0 percent from the field in
the final 20 minutes. WU also made just one three-point shot in
eight attempts on the night. The Bearcats were led by Ryan Hepp
(Sr., Century HS) and Miles Sandgathe (Jr., Pleasant Hill HS). Hepp
scored 15 points, dished out four assists and came up with three
steals. Sandgathe also netted 15 points and added six boards.
Harold Sublett Jr., (So., Hayden HS, Ariz.) chipped in with 10
points and seven rebounds.

THE RACE TO 1,000: Point guard Ryan Hepp (Sr., Century HS) and
post Marques Johnson (Sr., Grant HS) are each closing in on the
1,000-point plateau for a career. Heading into Friday’s game at
Puget Sound, Hepp has 960 points in his career and Johnson has
909.

NOTES: Whitworth, which led the NWC by 1/2-game over WU heading
into last week, went 1-1 during the past week to put the Pirates
and Bearcats in a tie for first place at 6-2. Whitworth defeated
Whitman on Tuesday but lost in overtime at Lewis & Clark on
Saturday … the Bearcats are 7-0 at home this season and have won
all 14 periods in those games … Willamette leads the NWC in scoring
defense (61.9 ppg), field goal percentage (50.4%) and three-point
field goal percentage (40.1%). The Bearcats are No. 2 in scoring
margin (+10.2), turnover margin (+3.25) and assist-to-turnover
ratio (1.08:1). Individually, Marques Johnson (Sr., Grant HS) ranks
fourth in the NWC in scoring (16.3 ppg), third in field goal
percentage (57.5%), tied for fifth in blocked shots (0.75) and
eighth in rebounding (6.3 rpg). Ryan Hepp (Sr., Century HS) ranks
seventh in scoring (15.2 ppg), first in assist-to-turnover ratio
(1.76:1), second in assists (4.62 apg), fifth in steals (1.62 spg),
eighth in free throw percentage (76.4%) and ninth in field goal
percentage (53.3%). Miles Sandgathe (Jr., Pleasant Hill HS) is
eighth in scoring (15.0 ppg), first in three-point field goal
percentage (56.2%), second in free throw percentage (85.7%), fifth
in field goal percentage (55.9%) and tied for sixth in steals (1.50
spg).

PREVIOUS ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Post Marques Johnson (Sr., Grant
HS) has been named to the all-tournament team in each of the three
tournaments Willamette has played in. He also was named MVP of the
Bud Presley Classic and Co-MVP of the John Lewis Holiday Classic.
Point guard Ryan Hepp (Jr., Century HS) was the other Co-MVP of the
John Lewis Holiday Classic and was named to the all-tourney team of
the Bud Presley Classic. Wing Miles Sandgathe (Jr., Pleasant Hill
HS) was also named to the Bud Presley all-tournament team.

# The all-time school record for wins by a Willamette head coach
is 277 by the late John Lewis. From 1947-67 (20 seasons), Lewis’
teams went 277-239 and won or shared seven conference titles. Lewis
also coached baseball at WU and served as athletic director.

TICKETS: Ticket prices for all Willamette regular season home games
are:
$5 General Admission
$3 Students and seniors
Free Children 12 and under
To purchase tickets in advance, call (503) 370-6011.

WILLAMETTE ON THE RADIO: Selected Willamette University basketball
games will be broadcast live on Salem radio station KBZY (1490 AM).
The broadcasts begin at the conclusion of each women’s game. Mike
Allegre will provide the play-by-play.